Moving on Up

Thanks to our friends we moved everything yesterday. All our belongings fit in one small u-haul and only one trip was necessary. Seeing all of those boxes in our house is overwhelming because they are sitting in the middle of a construction site. We have nowhere to put anything and no closets to hang clothes. But it feels good and it is a blessing, a true blessing to have this problem. I will sleep in a saw dust, paint fumed, unfinished house any day of the week so long as it's ours!
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Still moving

The place is unfinished. And we're still moving in. Sometimes you just
gotta suck it up and deal. I had two friends that helped me move.
Without them it would of been rough. Thanks m & s.

Green Light

One of our best friends Shari made some calls and through a friend of hers we found TBG Construction. Her friend Bill has been working with contractors for over 20 years and he gave them an excellent recommendation. He gave Shari his word that these guys were legit. When our friend Shari says that Bill's word is solid, it's solid and we got to witness that.

We set up a meeting and not only did the TBG team, Jesse and Jehovany Barraza show up, but Bill (whom we had never met by the way) also showed up to make sure we were taken care of. What??? Amazing right? He took time off of work and from his day to accompany the guys and introduce himself.

We ran them through all that needed to get done: Repairing the back room, foundation work, shoring up the house, electrical, plumbing, A.C., and remodeling the bathroom and kitchen. It was a long list and we waited nervously to hear back from them. We prayed that they would come within our budget because after meeting them, we couldn't imagine working with anyone else.

When we heard back from them they sent us a very detailed bid outlining all the work that needed to be done and what the work would cost, etc. We couldn't believe it when we got to the bottom line and the price was staring back at us. It fell within our budget and not only are we able to get everything done that we need but, The Mister and I don’t have to do a single thing. They are taking care of everything. How cool is that? I won't have to fear for The Mister's safety anymore.

What really sold us on this particular team was that they understood that we wanted to keep the integrity of the home as much as possible. When we told them that it was ok if they tore through our floors to get our plumbing done, their response was, "Why would you want to tear your original hardwood floors out?" Don't have to tell me twice ladies and gentelmen, I'm Sold!! If you can find me a solution, instead of saying it can't be done, The Mister and I will always go to bat for you.

They were so excited to get to work on an old home and for you cynics that will say that anyone getting paid will act excited, this team is different. They knew more about that house than we did. We didn't fall in love with this bungalow to completely change it. All we wanted to do was enhance it and update it and they got it. They really, really , really got it.

The TBG team readily provided us with references, copies of their insurance, and license information before we could even ask. They even invited us to go and see all of their other sites they are currently working on including a huge school, before we decided to accept their bid. We couldn't believe that they would be working on OUR project. We have never been so thrilled to sign on a dotted line and hand over a check. Watch out, we are officially working with The Big Guns.

Yellow Light

With permits in hand we can move forward. However, with that being said, The Mister and I need to regroup and really think about our next step. We can’t afford to have any more mishaps. We are paying a mortgage and a rent payment and we can't do that for very much longer. We need to get this done fast and without costly mistakes.

We are not licensed contractors and don't know what we are doing, therefore we need to find someone who can take on this project with all that comes with it. We need someone who can be held liable, responsible, and accountable if something goes wrong. We can’t afford to take any more chances because our budget is not the same budget we started with.

We interviewed several people and although we found some wonderful candidates we are not sold.